


Teachers

by WeAreCylons



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-09-15 18:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9250538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeAreCylons/pseuds/WeAreCylons
Summary: A/U Laura is the new teacher at an English high school. She meets a certain blue-eyed colleague on her very first day...This will probably remain a one-shot. At least for now.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There's a very little crossover hidden in the story; Elsie and Charles belong to another fandom - do you recognise them?

Disclaimer: BSG (2003) and all its characters involved are property of Ron D. Moore. I merely borrowed his play things to play a bit in his sandbox… 

Enjoy, C! xxx

~~~~~~~~~

 

Laura stared at the lounge’s kitchen unit. They had just brought in a freshly brewed pot of coffee, the smell was delicious. The woman who had showed her in - what was her name again, Ella? No, Elsa… something like that – had told her to make herself comfortable and help herself to any refreshments she needed. Headmaster Adar was still in a meeting, but he’d be with her as soon as possible. Another wave of coffee drifted over to the settee she had settled down on. A glance at the clock, located above the door, told her she had only been waiting for a minute. If the woman had been right, Richard wouldn’t be out within the next five minutes. Making up her mind, Laura got up and strolled over to the unit, opening cupboards until she found coffee cups. There were countless of different cups and she chose one decorated with an old ship. It somehow appealed to her.

“That’s mine.” A deep, rough voice startled her. She almost dropped the cup, but was able the compose herself. Turning around, Laura discovered the voice belonged to an even rougher-looking man. He appeared to be slightly older than her, his hair was black with the occasional grey stray showing and it was pulled back into a ponytail. His attire was very neat, he wore black trousers and a dark blue shirt covered with a black waistcoat. The most prominent and catching part of him was his face though. It was covered in scars, Laura suspected they were the remains of a nasty acne in his youth, and his features were interestingly asymmetric and yet, he had the most beautiful pair of blue eyes Laura had ever seen. 

“Sorry, but that’s my cup you’re holding.” He repeated himself, though trying to sound more polite than before. Laura collected her thoughts and offered him his cup. “I’m sorry.” she said, then added “I didn’t know.”

“Don’t worry. You’re the new one aren’t you?”

It was a normal question; however, she found it difficult to figure out whether it was sincere small talk or whether he just felt obliged to say something. “Yes, I’m Laura Roslin.” She said, trying to sound passive. The man nodded, but still showed no signs of interest. Laura turned back to the cupboard trying to decide which cup she would use instead. She hated to admit it, but that man made her edgy. It took her a lot of effort not to simply leave the room. Just as she was about to take another cup, he spoke again. “That one belongs to Jack.” She rolled her eyes.

“Maybe you could just point out which cups do not have an owner yet.” 

Instead of replying, the man bent down, opened another cupboard and pulled out a white mug. He simply placed it in front of Laura and then went back to sipping his coffee.

Laura stared at the mug for a few seconds, then decided two could play this game. Without one word of gratitude, she took it and filled it with coffee, milk and sugar. The first sip of the now semi-hot liquid was bliss. It surely wasn’t the best brand of coffee she had ever tasted, but at this moment it was just the relief she needed. Closing her eyes, she hummed.

“Literature department?” 

“Yes.” It was difficult to retain a polite tone through clenched teeth.

“You’re American.” Somehow she could detect scepticism in his voice. Laura sniffed.

“How well observed. Doesn’t mean I’m unable to read and teach literature though.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Neither blinking. Then, to her surprise, the stranger raised his eyebrows and chuckled. He bowed his head. “You’re right of course.”   
Her reply was a triumphant hum. “Thank you, Mr. ?”

“Adama, Bill Adama.” He offered her his hand now. “I work for the history department.” 

She nodded in acknowledgement. 

“So this is your first day?” It seemed she had mastered and passed his strange trial, for now his tone of voice was much more inviting.

“Yes. No. I’m only here to meet Mr. Adar and get to be shown around. He’s still in a meeting though, one of the other teachers welcomed me and led me in here, a E… -” 

“Elsie?” He offered. Laura instantly nodded. “Yes, her. It was a bit difficult to remember. Her accent, is that the local accent?” 

Bill chuckled again. “No, she’s Scottish. You’ll recognise the Yorkshire accent when you hear it, though barely any of the pupils speak it. Only the older generations; was a quite a challenge getting used to it when we moved up here.”

“Oh, so you’re not ‘native’ either?” She asked.

“Not exactly. I’m from London. Moved up here when I got the job offer a couple of years ago.”

Another hum, but this time it was warm and inviting.

“Which part of the States are you from?”

“Los Angeles.” she replied. She dreaded questions about her home, about her past.

“What brought you here?” Good. That way she could luckily avoid talking about her former life.

“Richard. Um, Mr. Adar, I mean. We are old friends, he was an exchange student at my university ages ago.” To Laura’s surprise Bill didn’t seem to find these news a cause to smile like she did.

“I see.” He simply said. 

She was glad that in that very moment Richard and another man entered the room. She wasn’t sure why, but the lack of interest and joy in her connection with Richard suddenly hurt her. 

“Laura!” Richard greeted her in a tight hug. “How are you?”

“Fine. I’m fine. It’s good to see you Richard, thank you for this opportunity.” Her gratitude was sincere, her smile wasn’t though. Laura still hadn’t learned how to react to being questioned after her wellbeing, even if it was only meant as a polite inquiry. 

Richard seemed satisfied. “Good. We’re glad to have you here.” He then turned around, inviting with a gesture of his arm the other man to join their conversation. “This is Charles Carson. He’s the head of the Literature department, he’ll be showing you around in a second.”

Mr. Carson shook hands with Laura. He was a tall man, with a very stern expression. However, once having exchanged a couple of words, Laura got the feeling that she shouldn’t trust her first impression with this one. When their convoy left the lounge to move on to Richard’s office, she also noted that Mr. Carson waved good-bye to Bill, whereas Richard simply seemed to ignore the other man. She hesitated, then turned around and nodded at him. Bill was leaning against a table, his coffee in his hand and his face fixed in a stone-like passive expression. But nonetheless he nodded to her as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of thanks to all those who encouraged me to continue with this story even though I intended it to be a one-shot originally. Special thanks to my partner in crime and beta, Jules! Also special thanks to Lolcat and Kate04us :*
> 
> I got a little information I'd like to share with you before you start reading because I think they're helpful.  
> As it is common with English schools the pupils of Colonial Academy are sorted into houses. The houses in my story are called Saggitaron, Gemenon, Caprica and Tauron (I decided to use the names of those Colonies most often mentioned in the series). The heads of houses are Zarek, Porter, Hughes and Cain.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: BSG (2003) and all its characters involved are property of Ron D. Moore. I merely borrowed his play things to play a bit in his sandbox…

Enjoy, Viv! xxx

~~~~~~~~~

 

“And this brings me to the final and last item on today’s agenda. She’s been here for a week now, but it is only today that I can officially introduce you to our newest colleague and staff member. Laura Roslin.” 

Richard finished his little speech by pointing out Laura amongst the seated staff members of Colonial Academy. Although quite a few had already spotted her wandering around the school house, there were still many curious faces who now took the chance to openly eye the newcomer. Laura slowly got to her feet, thanked Richard and his administrative team for welcoming her so kindly and then directed a couple of kind words towards her new colleagues. They were accepted with polite applause and afterwards, to Laura’s great relief, the general attention was drawn to a small buffet provided by the parents’ representatives. 

Laura still felt a little awkward, like some kind of alien. The only other colleague she had made acquaintance with, apart from Bill, Elsie and Mr. Carson, had been the school’s doctor, Jack Cottle. He was present too; however, after that one meeting she didn’t feel like engaging in another conversation soon. 

One of her new pupils had left a cooling pack in her classroom, and since she couldn’t remember who exactly it had been she had decided to use her free period to bring it back into “Sickbay” – as everybody seemed to call the tiny infirmary – herself, using the chance also to get more familiar with her workplace’s building. It had been pretty easy to find, since it was located close to the main entrance on the ground floor. The door hadn’t been locked and so Laura only gave it a polite knock before entering with a friendly “Hello.” However, she had been shocked upon finding the doctor leaning against the room’s open window, about to light his cigarette. Unfazed by her incredulous stare, the doctor had asked her in a gruff tone.“What is it?”

Being addressed in such a manner shook Laura out of her stupor. She showed him the cooling pack and said: “Somebody left this in my classroom.”

The doctor just nodded and kept on puffing on his cigarette. “Just drop it onto that shelf.” 

Laura’s eyebrow went up and she prepared herself for giving the man a good piece of her mind. Although, when he looked at her again he didn’t seem impressed at all and, still using that gruff tone, simply added: “Would you mind?”

“Actually I would,” she immediately fired up. “But maybe you wouldn’t mind putting out that cigarette, we’re in a school after all!” 

To her horror a couple of pupils passed by the doctor’s window at the same time. They didn't seem to have heard their exchange, but they surely had seen the object dangling between Cottle’s forefinger and thumb. It didn’t seem to surprise or even bother them though: all they did was nod at the older man and pass on.

Cottle smiled at her. “You’re the new one, aren’t you?” The only effect her words had had on him had been making him smile, for he again pulled on the cigarette. Never had she been treated with such cheek by a colleague. She was about to give him a full lecture on proper behaviour when working with children, but at the same moment the door opened again. A young woman had entered, carrying two paper cups of coffee from Costa’s. She passed Laura, muttering a short hello, and placed one of the cups in front of the doctor. Cottle used her appearance to prevent Laura from speaking. “Thank you Ishay. Have you met our newest member of staff yet?” He addressed the young woman and pointed at Laura. Ishay looked between the two of them. “No, I haven’t.”

Laura shook the hand the young woman instantly offered her. “I’m Ishay, a med student and Dr. Cottle’s assistant.” She introduced herself with a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you Ishay. I’m Laura Roslin, the new teacher for English literature.” During the short exchange, the doctor had finally put out his cigeratte and closed the window. Walking around his table, he approached the two women and pointed towards the cooling pack, still residing in Laura’s hand. “Let me help you with that, young lady.” He commented and then took the item. Laura still hadn’t forgotten about his misbehaviour and the use of that...endearment brought back what she had been about to tell him. However, again, before she could say a word he had put a hand on the small of her back and gently yet forcefully pushed her out of his infirmary’s door. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to get back to work.” 

Perplexed she stared at the door which had closed right into her face. She couldn’t believe that had really happened! 

Rolling her eyes at the memory, Laura made a mental note to tell Richard about what had happened there and also decided that she most certainly would not seek out that man’s company.

“Do you want some tea?” Laura was startled. A woman was standing next to her, offering her a cup of tea. She must have been very lost in her thoughts to not see the woman approach her. She had dark skin and wore a lovely blue pant suit, her hair was pulled back into a bun and Laura noticed that she was shorter than herself, for the woman was looking up at her with a very warm and kind smile. Instantly feeling welcomed, she accepted the cup. “Yes, thank you very much.”

The woman’s smile widened. “Your name was Laura, right?” She asked. “I’m sorry, I’m not very quick at remembering names.”

Laura started returning the smile. “Oh, I hear you! But you’re right, I’m Laura.” 

“I’m Elosha.” Laura acknowledged that with another warm smile.

“So, you’re working in Mr. Carson’s department?” It was more of a statement than a question, but Laura instinctively knew that it was meant as a sort of ice breaker to engage her in a conversation.

“Yes. He’s a really good scholar with great personality. Which subject do you teach?”

“R.E. - religious education. I work under Sarah Porter.” Elosha turned around slightly while saying that and pointed towards another dark-skinned woman who was standing in a circle with Richard Adar and a couple of others.

Laura leant a tad forward to get a better look. “Uh-huh,” she acknowledged. Then added “I really have to learn all the names and the faces they come with.”

Her companion giggled at that comment. “The troubles we teachers have. Maybe we’d get better at it, if they tested us.” 

“Oh god, no! Please...that’d be disastrous!” Laura laughed.

They shared a good couple of minutes joking about the idea and sipping their teas. Chatting with Elosha felt good, she was a kind woman who understood how to keep her distance yet make her counterpart feel at ease.

While listening to the older woman, Laura spotted Bill standing in the corner across the room talking to a young blonde colleague. He was wearing a light blue shirt today on top of black trousers, his hair again pulled back into a pony tail and his glasses resting in his shirt’s chest pocket. Before she was able to control herself, her thoughts had decided that she really liked his style. He was able to look formal yet comfortable. Laura blinked for a second then took another sip from her tea to distract herself again.

“That’s Bill Adama one of the history teachers and I think he’s talking to Gina Inviere. She teaches science.” Elosha informed her.

“I know Bill. We already met.” Laura paused a second to quickly glance at Elosha. “She is very pretty” she then continued and focused back onto the other couple talking, this time taking a closer look at the blonde. Only her profile was visible, but that was more than sufficient to underline Laura’s statement. Gina had long legs, which she presented to their advantage in a rather short skirt and heels slightly higher than Laura’s. On top of her skirt she wore a relatively plain blouse. Nothing about her clothing (or even her make up) could be described as tantalising, she was dressed very much appropriately for a teacher. Still, everything about her had sex appeal. Even though Laura had never fancied women herself, she couldn’t deny the allure the young woman had about her and sure enough, a quick glance around the room proved that many members of the staff were occasionally stealing glances at her. A fact that did not seem to bother Ms. Inviere at all; she was comfortably chatting with Bill, sharing a smile with him from time to time, but mostly they seemed to have a serious conversation.

“She most certainly is.” Elosha too had been mustering Gina. She now smiled in the woman’s direction in a very motherly way. Just when she said to Laura “We must not stare too much,” Bill had noticed them. Laura blushed, her companion however grinned toward him and waved her hand in a polite wave. He nodded back at them and then said something to Gina while gesturing with his hand into their direction. The young woman followed his hand’s movement, smiled at them in a friendly manner and the two of them made their way over to the two women.

Laura, who had collected herself within seconds, returned the blonde’s smile. Once the two of them had reached them, she immediately stretched out her hand to introduce herself to Gina, who copied the gesture. 

 

Bill felt himself relax as the four of them took up a conversation about experiences they had made in the classroom. It was an easy topic, since they all were able to relate to each others’ stories and it thus allowed him to take a closer look at the redhead standing opposite him. She had her whole attention focused on what Gina was telling. Her dazzling green eyes absorbing important details of the storyteller, her features following the tales’ emotions. She was certainly one of a kind, Bill decided. The group laughed, and he joined in with one of his low chuckles. Next it was Elosha’s turn. Laura turned her attention towards the other woman and took a sip from her cup of tea. Bill could see her delicate and full lips touching the porcelain carefully. When she lowered the cup again, her tongue darted out, wiping her lips dry of the few droplets of tea that had remained there. 

His eyes wandered up again to look at her eyes. People, especially women, were always swooning about his eyes. Their colour was intense – he knew that; but he had never understood why people were so transfixed by them. Now he understood though. There was something, that couldn’t be described in words, but eyes of a colour as intense as Laura’s deserved any poetic description there was. 

He was almost caught staring. It was mere seconds between him registering Elosha asking about his eldest boy Lee and all three women turning their heads towards him. In no time, he turned his head towards the woman speaking, trying to catch as much as he could of her question.

“… but Lee never signed up for the Christmas play again, did he?”

“No. He never wanted to again and we decided not to push him.”

“Of course not. Still, it’s sad, he was really good at it.” Bill decided not to tell Elosha that Lee had given up religion shortly after that play she had been talking about. His boy seemed to have lost his faith, which Bill didn’t necessarily consider bad – since he himself was an atheist – although he wished the circumstances had been different. If his son decided to not believe in God and the church’s preachings anymore, then that was his business, but he should have made that decision based on other reasons than the divorce of his parents. 

Bill shuddered a bit. When they had signed those papers in February three years ago, he and Carolann had already managed to cause grave emotional damage. Not only on themselves but also on their boys. Luckily ever since, things were getting better. There was still room for improvement, especially when it came to communication between them, but the fighting had decreased immensely. They shared custody; on weekdays the boys stayed with their mum, although Bill drove them home from school almost every day. During the weekends they were usually staying at his place.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Bill saw a fifth figure joining their little circle. Helena Cain had obviously finished her conversation with the other heads of houses and now sought out the company of her partner. Sure enough, her arm glided around Gina’s waist as soon as she joined them. “I say, Lee’s talent is spent much better on the rugby field.” Apparently she had heard what they had been talking about.

Bill chuckled. “I drink to that. But don’t tell his mother.” He raised his own tea cup towards the P.E. teacher. 

Gina rolled her eyes and turned towards Laura. “You’ll soon figure out the problem with Helena is that she thinks everything is a soft subject except for sports.” 

Laura raised her eyebrows at that but smiled. “Is that so? I dare say it surely can’t help when players are able to count and spell their names correctly, right?” 

Bill grinned. Even though he didn’t dislike Helena, he also wasn’t fond of her and her attitude towards her colleagues and pupils. Since he was the school’s guidance counsellor he was quite well aware of the goings-on during her lessons. The woman in question cast Laura an appraising look. For a couple of seconds he couldn’t tell whether she’d bite her head off or not, but then she grinned back at Laura. “You’re quite a smartass,” she said. Bill noted Elosha throwing an appalled look towards Helena. The newbie however just straightened her spine and put on her most beautiful smile. 

“Thank you,” she said.

Cain’s laugh sounded more like a bark, but it seemed to be genuine. Gina, who also had been following the exchange with a critical expression, laughed, too.

“Let me guess, you grew up with a handful of older brothers, didn’t you?” she asked her.

For a split second, Bill was sure he saw how Laura’s whole body tensed up. Her smile almost literally froze on her face and it seemed like a shadow crossed her features. She swallowed, then answered. “No. I grew up with two younger sisters.” 

“Oh, wrong guess then.” Neither Gina, nor Helena, appeared to have seen what he had. 

“How is your sister, Helena?” Elosha chimed in. The conversation immediately turned back from Laura. If Helena Cain loved something more than sports it was her little sister Lucy. And if Bill wasn’t completely mistaken, Elosha had changed the topic on purpose. Probably, she had noted the change in Laura as well.

The woman in question still appeared more tense than earlier, but slowly relaxed again. She obviously pretended to listen to the conversation, but Bill noted her eyes were lacking their attentive gleam from earlier. After a while of passive staring, she dropped her gaze towards her cup and then announced she’d go get a refill her tea. None of the other’s seemed to bother.

To her relief, no one else was at the buffet when she reached it. Taking her time, Laura placed her cup on the table and took a deep breath before reaching for the tea pot. There wasn’t much tea left, but enough to fill her small cup. She added some milk and a piece of sugar, then stirred the liquid. The monotonic and slow movement helped her to calm her thoughts and relax some more. She closed her eyes to once more inhale deeply and then release the air in a long, calming breath. Of course, the people here didn’t know what had happened. How could they? Laura had even asked Richard explicitly not to tell anyone about her family. Maybe that had been foolish, she now wondered. She was doomed to find herself in more situations like these; casual questions about her family or childhood. 

A body had sidled up next to her. Since her eyes were still closed, she couldn’t see who it was but she would almost swear it was Bill Adama. He probably thought he had done a very unobtrusive job when he stared at her during their conversation with Elosha and Gina. But he hadn’t. Laura had felt his eyes on her within seconds. It hadn’t been the kind of staring that made her uncomfortable, at least not in a very bad sense. It had made her feel exposed, but not in a naked way, more like he had been reading her thoughts. It was a stupid notion really; yet, still she couldn’t decide what to think of the man. He emitted something comforting, something that made her want to curl up beside him in a ball and have him read out her favourite novels in that melodious deep voice of his. The very same voice that most times was just used as an unfriendly grumble...that’s what she guessed at least. He had been acting kind towards her today, just like he had at the end of their very first encounter; but he seemed to be eyeing her in a certain way, that she couldn’t quite describe and somehow she felt it was because she and Richard were friends. She still remembered how his expression had changed when she shared that piece of information a week ago.

“You like your tea sweet?”

Laura’s eyes snapped open. That wasn’t the deep voice of Bill Adama, nor was it any voice she recognised at all. Sure enough, a new face stood next to her; it belonged to a tall man, with short brown hair and equally brown eyes. His skin looked as if he went to the tanning shop regularly and his smile had something sinister about it. 

“I guess I do.” she answered a bit irritated. The man laughed. She didn’t really understand why though.

“I’m Tom Zarek, head of Sagittaron House.” He stretched out his hand. Even though her instinct told her she didn’t want to have any skin-to-skin with that man, she took his hand and shook it in a confident manner. “Laura Roslin,” she simply said.

“I know.” He smiled and held on to her hand a second longer than necessary as Laura felt. She tried to stay polite and friendly, but he really was giving her a hard time.

“Richard told me about you. You’re from California, aren’t you?”

She didn’t like the way he looked at her. It was everything Bill’s stare wasn’t.

“Yes, I am.” Laura was proud of how she managed to stay polite – one of the most important skills as a teacher.

“Fascinating! And you weren’t born there, were you?” 

This time she allowed her confusion to show. “I was born there.” she stated with slightly furrowed eyebrows. What was going on?

Zarek laughed. “Oops, my mistake.” Did he actually just wink at her?! He leant forward, not really invading her personal space but still far too close for Laura’s liking. Still, she remained were she was.

“It’s just that Richard never told me how beautiful and slim American women could be.” He said in a subdued tone. Laura’s insides froze. This time not because she was stunned by shock but to prevent her from freaking out. What a disgusting man! She stared at him, then smirked.

“He didn’t, did he? Well, “ she answered were slowly, “he also never told me how dim-witted his British pals are!”

She gave him another devilish smile and slowly strode away.

However she decided not to go back to the group she had been talking to earlier. They were still standing together, laughing about something right now. Bill had his back towards the buffet so he hadn’t been able to watch her again, but something inside her told her he had probably taken a couple of chances to glance over his shoulder to watch her. She sighed, once again trying to measure up that strange man.

The last part of her thought brought back another man’s name into her mind. Where was Richard? She looked around the room and then spotted him. To her dismay he was just talking with none other than Dr. Cottle. “Oh well,” she said to herself and then headed towards them, holding her head high.

“Hello Richard, Doctor,” Laura greeted the men, before they had a chance to do it first. She also smiled brightly at both of them. Richard instantly smiled back at his friend, the grumpy old doctor simply raised his eyebrows and nodded; not moving any other part of his face.

“Laura,” Richard replied as a greeting and put his free hand onto the small of her back. He had always been the touchy kind of guy. It used to annoy her a lot when they got to know each other because Laura was more the distanced kind of person. But she got used to it. 

“You look good,” he remarked and continued, “Hope you are settling in well. Already made acquaintance with Doc Cottle here, I see?” 

Laura cast another charming smile towards the doctor. “Oh, I did.” To her delight, her over-friendly demeanour seemed to irritate the old man immensely. It’s true what they say, she thought, payback is a bitch! “How are you Doc?” she inquired, putting on a face of slight concern. “You didn’t seem so well the last time we met.” It worked; her behaviour made Cottle nervous. She knew it wasn’t because she was misrepresenting what he had been doing – somehow she knew even if she had mentioned his smoking inside the building, it wouldn’t have impressed him – it was more because this time she caught him by surprise and used that as her advantage to have the upper hand. That would hopefully teach him not to treat her like a silly little girl in the future.

Sure enough, the Doctor grunted out that he was quite well and then excused himself from their company. Obviously fleeing from her.

“Laura, Laura, Laura.” Richard grinned, “What did the poor man do to deserve that?” He had, of course, recognised Laura’s behaviour for what it was. 

“None of your concern.” She turned towards him. “You talked about me with your friends?” 

She wasn’t upset, but the fact that Tom Zarek had approached her in such a manner did make her a bit annoyed with Richard and his ‘friends’. 

“I’m not sure I’m following you. What friends?” he removed his hand from her back, and subconsciously she relaxed. 

“Tom Zarek. He just asked me about my origin and then pulled off one the stupidest pick-up-lines I have ever heard.” She pulled a face while telling him. Richard chuckled and apologised. “I’m sorry Laura. Really! Tom’s a bit of a jerk sometimes but usually he’s a good guy. Trust me,” he added because of the expression of disbelief on her face, “and I didn’t tell him anything else. Just that I knew you from my time in LA; Tom’s a head of house and therefore in my administrative team – they needed an explanation why I wanted to hire you.”

Laura contemplated his words. “Alright.” She finally said. He touched her again, this time stroking her arm. “Why don’t you join me in my office for a second? There’s something I’ve got to show you.” He grabbed her elbow but felt her hesitation. “Come on.”

Again, she decided to trust him and went with him. The headmaster’s office was located two doors down the hall of the big staff lounge. It was the second room on the second corridor when you came up the staircase that led up from the library on the ground floor. Laura had discovered a side entrance next to the library two days ago, which made it much easier to reach her classroom, which too was located on the second floor but on the opposite side of the main entrance.

They reached Richard’s office and he closed the door behind them. Instead of moving behind his desk as Laura would have expected him to do, he turned around and leant against the desk instead. “Have a seat,” he offered her friendly. A bit sceptic, she sat down in one of his visitors’ chairs. She didn’t like the way he was looking at her, it felt imploring and she also detected pity in his eyes. At once she understood what this was all about. 

“How are you?” he asked her.

Laura at once put on an imaginary mask and answered, “I’m good.” 

He kept staring at her in that way. Maybe the pity in his expression even increased. She remained stoic however, refusing to let the facade she put up down. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She emphasised her answer with a smile that she knew would fool him. Another thing she had learned about Richard was that he wasn’t very sensitive when it came to other people; neither in treating them sensitively nor in recognising their true emotions.

As always, it worked. He seemed to be content and leaned back in his position. “You know Laura, I have been thinking about you a lot. You leave quite an impression on people’s minds, did you know that?” 

What an idiot. Laura was all too familiar with the expression he was now carrying on his face. Come to think of it, Richard was what you’d call an open book, she pondered. 

She openly rolled her eyes at him. “Richard, please don’t start.” Every time they met, he had to make approaches towards her. Every damn time, he really hoped that she would finally relent and sleep with him… again. To her great shame, she had to admit that during his exchange in LA she had slept with him once. But it had always been nothing more than that, a one night stand. 

“Oh, come on Laura. You’re new in town, haven’t made friends so far...you must feel lonely.” He had approached her, closing the distance between them, his lips aiming at hers. 

“Whoaa-!” Instinctively she clasped her hand over his mouth, preventing him from kissing her. “Lonely maybe. Sometimes. But certainly not desperately horny!” She retorted with anger in her voice. 

The headmaster backed away again, clutching his hands over his chest and giving her his best attempt at a sad face. “Ouch. Desperately? That one hurt, Laura.”

She rolled her eyes again, wiping her slightly wet hand dry on her skirt’s fabric. “No, it didn’t.” She simply said. Then thought for a moment and considered it best to make a few things clear right now. “Look, Richard. I’m very grateful for this job and hope you hired me because you think highly of me as a teacher and not because you wanted to bed me.” He looked like he was about to interrupt her, but her stern glance made him stay silent. “But I’m going to be open with you; that one night that we had, was what is was and it is never going to repeat itself. I like you as a friend, I think you’re a good person, but I don’t want to have sex with you ever again.” Her voice wasn’t as harsh as her words, she knew how to be gentle yet very clear with bad news.

The news sank in slowly with Richard, but he did seem to understand. He at least nodded and accepted her words with a defeated “Okay.” Laura gave him another small smile and stood up. “I guess, we better go back to the others now,” she suggested and gestured towards the door.  
Richard agreed and they made their way back to the staff lounge. A couple of staff members passed them on the corridor and when they entered the room, they realised that most of them were already leaving. Richard instantly went to wish the parents’ representatives good-bye, while Laura strode over to a side table in the room, where she had left her handbag on a chair. She’d follow her colleagues lead and decided to go home.

A couple of people had been standing next to her destination, however they dispersed while she was walking towards it. It turned out, they had been unintentionally hiding none other than Bill Adama who was sitting in another chair, staring at her approaching form. Laura looked at him quizzically.

“You shouldn’t leave your things unguarded,” he lectured her and pointed at her handbag. 

“I trust my colleagues,” she plainly stated.

“You don’t even know most of their names.”

Was he trying to pick up a fight? Laura cast him an annoyed glare. “Well then, thank you, Mr. Adama.” 

She grabbed her bag and slung it over shoulder, turned around and started to march back towards the door. “You didn’t bring a coat?” Apparently Bill was following her. Exasperated Laura hissed over shoulder “No.” 

“Too bad, it’s raining.” She halted in her steps, then turned around. Sure enough, she could see the rain pouring down through the staff room’s window. A rather sorrowful moan escaped her. 

“Rule number one: Always carry a spare raincoat or umbrella with you in England.” 

Laura buried her face in her hand. How stupid, she thought. And then the giggles started to overcome her, as reliable as always.

She stood there, in the middle of the staff room in front of her colleague and just giggled. It wouldn’t stop, so she glanced at Bill, only to see the funniest, lopsided grin on his face she had ever seen. His teeth weren’t all straight, but they absolutely matched his marred face. Her giggles grew harder and now he started laughing too. It was a low rumbling sound. She leaned forward and grabbed his shoulder, his arm slung around her in a steadying manner – only subconsciously did she note that she didn’t mind him touching her. Gasping for breath she tried to explain: “I’m sorry. These giggles, they...always come...” and she erupted into another fit. 

The remaining people in the room were either grinning at them or ignoring them. Either way, no one seemed to be bothered in particular. After a while, Laura finally calmed down again and once again tried to apologise.

“It’s alright,” Bill hastily said. He liked the sound she made when laughing, but refrained from telling her that and instead he offered to give her a ride home.

“Yes, that’d be nice,” she answered after a short moment of contemplation. He went to grab his own jacket and bag and they headed towards the side entrance. “My car’s closer to this one,” he explained to her over his shoulder.

They had just reached the top of the staircase when a voice cried. “Hi, Bill!” At the bottom of the stairs stood none other than Ellen Tigh. Bill shook his head. 

“Ellen. Where have you been?” 

“What do you mean, where have I been? I’ve been at home with Saul of course.” 

Ellen made her way up, approaching them. She appeared to move normal, yet Bill could swear her words had been a bit slurred. Not a big surprise of course; it was a wonder the woman stayed sober during the weekdays, but once the bell rang on Friday afternoons, her first measure was to go home and drink with her husband, his best friend.

“You missed this term’s conference,” he calmly pointed out, his face in a passive expression.

“Oh!” Ellen exclaimed. First looking shocked, then formed a funny grimace. “Oops! Must’ve mixed up the time!” Her words were accompanied with a very artificial laugh. He felt Laura shift uncomfortably next to him. Their opponent had noticed too, for she now looked at Laura for what seemed the first time.

“Who is your friend, Bill?” She didn’t even try to hide the lookover she gave the red head. His insides screamed at Ellen, but he knew it was best not to reprimand her for something like that. Instead he ignored her behaviour and introduced them. The women shook hands, both wearing very faked smiles. The blonde turned her attention back towards him as soon as they released their hands again. 

“Meet me and Saul at 8 in the pub, will you?” She didn’t wait for him to answer but leant forward to kiss his cheek. Out of the corner of his eye he saw how Laura quickly looked away from them; he wasn’t quite sure though whether she was annoyed or disgusted. 

While Ellen strode past them she let them know she’d go and look for the headmaster now and without a word of farewell she was gone.

Bill looked at Laura and gave her an apologetic shrug. “She’s my best friend’s wife.” He felt like explaining why he would meet a woman like that after work. Laura simply raised her eyebrows.

A couple of minutes later, when they were finally in the car only slightly wet and headed towards Laura’s home, she spoke again. “Is she going to be in trouble?” 

He didn’t need to ask whom she was talking about. “No. Probably not. Ellen always finds a way to wind herself out of trouble.” After another second of silence he added, “she is trouble though. Perhaps that’s the trick.” 

Laura snorted at that. “That might be true.” 

Bill contemplated his next words carefully before saying: “It helps that she’s pretty and a woman. Adar rarely gets angry with the fairer sex.”

Laura gave him a stern look. “That’s very sexist.”

“It’s true though. He’s the kind of man who likes pretty women.” She didn’t react to his words, so he decided to go further. “He invited you into his office after the conference.”

He noted her fists clenching in her lap. “He did.” In his mind he started a countdown until - “Richard and I are friends. What you are insinuating is unbelievable!” 

“So you’re saying he didn’t make any approaches to you?” He didn’t have to look at her to know he had hit the bull’s eye. Her silence told him all he needed to know.

“I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, I just want to make sure you’re fine and warned where he’s concerned.”

“How touching!” She was pissed. “Let me tell you for the last time, Richard and I are friends. Also, I’m a big girl and more than capable of taking care of myself, so, stay out of my business Mr. Adama.” Damn she was good. Bill did feel the full blow of her verbal slap and she hadn’t even screamed at him. Her icy tone had been sufficient. 

They stayed silent again, until they reached her flat. It took her mere seconds to unfasten the seatbelt and utter a polite thank you. Her hand was already on the door handle when he decided not to let her go like that. “I’m sorry!” He reached for her other hand to him. She hesitated and looked at him. “I know I sounded like a total jerk, but I really only meant well. And I’m not sexist, trust me.” He said. Laura waited a bit before she gave in and said: “You’re forgiven.” Bill tried a smile and was glad to be rewarded with one in return. She thanked him again, and once more reached to open the door before he blurted out “Let me buy you a drink. Tonight, at the pub.”   
Laura didn’t react. His heart dropped and he cursed himself. She opened the door and stepped out into the pouring rain; even though he was disappointed, he kept watching her. Then she turned around and said “Meet you there at 8.” With a swift movement, she had thrown the door of his vehicle shut and hurried away through the rain.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Better late than never - here a new chapter ;) Thank you all for being patient!

Disclaimer: BSG (2003) and all its characters involved are property of Ron D. Moore. I merely borrowed his play things to play a bit in his sandbox…

Enjoy, Viv! xxx

~~~~~~~~~

Laura stood in front of her bedroom’s mirror staring, not at her reflection, but at the mess of her room behind her reflected in the mirror. Towers of cardboard boxes were lining up against the wall beside her bed. Clothes were lying spread across them; on one box she had set up a small mirror and her beauty case. She used it every morning to get ready for school because the lighting in here was much better than in her bathroom which had no windows to let some natural light in. She shifted her weight and in view came the only other piece of furniture, apart from her big mirror and the bed, that had found a place in her flat’s bedroom so far. It was a small chest of drawers, which she had purchased at ASDA’s, a large store on the outer part of the village. It wasn’t much and not exactly pretty to look at with its cheap wood hidden beneath an even cheaper plastic covering that was supposed to resemble the real thing. When she had bought it, she had sworn to herself that she’d buy some better furniture as soon as possible. That had been three weeks ago and somehow she still hadn’t found the time, or energy to at least check out some catalogues. 

On top of her chest of drawers resided her laptop which was currently being used as a music player. Since there were no windows in her bathroom, she had started leaving its door open while showering just to prevent it from getting too steamy; and it also allowed her to listen to some music playing in the adjoining room – in this case her bedroom. Right now the soft sounds of relaxing instrumental Jazz music were streaming out of her computer. Laura closed her eyes and swayed slightly, blocking out all thoughts she had just had about her sparsely decorated flat, for it was not only her bedroom that looked like this. The kitchen had luckily already had a unit when she moved in, however it was lacking all kinds of dishes and cutlery. She merely had bought two basic sets of plates, spoons, forks and knives and of course a cup and a set of glasses. The only other room her flat consisted of was the living room/study. It contained an old couch and shelf, both left behind by the former tenant and a small coffee table which she had bought as well as a small TV. In other words, her flat resembled that of a 20-something nerd who had just moved out of his parents’ house and was now desperately pretending to be an adult. But she had chosen to live that way for now; there had been other possibilities which she could have taken because she had the money, but maybe this kind of living had appealed more to her fragile mind. Having a real home wouldn’t feel right, not after abandoning a real home... a real home that had lost its residents.

Laura swallowed down the large lump that had formed in her throat. Now was not the time to allow her mind to go there. She opened her eyes again to find them staring back at her in the mirror. They were slightly bloodshot and red. Silent tears were streaming down her face. She had her mothers’ eyes. Just like Sandra had had them. They both had resembled their mother in most ways whereas Cheryl had obviously come after their father. But Laura knew where to find the features that she had inherited from Edward. Her chin, her red hair, the dimples she had when laughing. She tried smiling at her reflection, it ended up looking more like a sad grimace, though, with her wet face.

The playlist on her laptop switched to the next song. It was a terribly sad tune, but the volume of the record was much louder than that of the last one. She jumped away from the mirror to shut down the computer. Enough sadness for now. Laura had always been good at ignoring her emotions, even as a girl; she had perfected the art of pushing them away, hiding them somewhere in her depths and then creating a vacuum, in which she kept on existing and ignoring whatever caused her pain. It worked flawlessly when it came to getting over a boyfriend, a bad fight with the other girls or after failing an important exam. The loss of her family was pushing her borders, though. She had to be cautious all the time; small things were enough to smash her defences. For a short moment, while she stood there, closing her browser window, she actually considered cancelling her outing and instead curling up under her bed covers waiting in the darkness for sleep to take her away into a better place. But Laura wouldn’t be Laura if she allowed herself to feel the grief. It was easier to go away, to keep running.

The laptop finally shut down, she removed the large towel that had been wrapped around her body and proceeded with rubbing herself dry. In the bathroom she found her tube of body lotion, scent-free, which she hastily and uncaringly rubbed into her skin. She kept moving about her room naked, looking for what to wear. Earlier Laura had thought about wearing a short purple dress, but seeing the thing now she absolutely felt not in the mood. It was a pretty dress, an eye-catcher, and Laura didn’t feel like being stared at tonight. She rummaged in one of her cardboard boxes until she triumphantly pulled out a white top and an olive green blouse. Deciding that the body lotion had been fully absorbed by her skin, Laura put on her creme-coloured bra from earlier and pulled the top over her head; it was a bit difficult because of the towel she had wrapped around her hair, however, she managed to put on the top without major incidents. Next she went to her chest of drawers and fetched a fresh pair of panties, which she quickly put on, followed by a pair of jeans, that had been lying at the foot of her bed for a couple of days now. Looking at that piece of clothing, Laura decided it was time to visit the launderette tomorrow. At last she removed the towel and started working on her hair. It took twenty minutes, during which she went to and fro between her bedroom and bathroom, until she finally had tamed her long red mane. Satisfied with the result, she fixed her make up and then slipped into her blouse. 

During her youth Laura had often spent several minutes staring at her reflection in the mirror before going out, trying to decide whether she looked the best she could in the chosen outfit. That habit didn’t change in adulthood, however, she had become quicker in assessing her look. Yet, since the loss of her family this was one of those things that had been added to the “I-don’t-care-that-much-anymore” list. Which was why, when Laura actually took a glance at herself now, she felt extremely awkward. She mustered her appearance but couldn’t decide on what to think and instead chose not to dwell much but get going. In the hallway she found her shoes, a pair of black booties, pulled on her trench coat – also black – grabbed her handbag and a small umbrella, which she tucked into the bag along with her wallet, mobile and keys and then headed outside. It was already 8.05, but she had never planned on being there at 8 sharp anyway.

 

Bill was getting nervous. No, actually he had been nervous ever since he had gotten home after dropping off Laura earlier that day. He couldn’t quite tell why though. Of course, he realised that his new colleague was an extremely good-looking woman, but she was still nothing more than the new colleague and he had asked her to join them tonight because he had felt bad about his behaviour, plus she was new in town and probably hadn’t met a lot of people yet. In other words, he was being nice and kind. No other intentions there – at least that was what he was trying to convince himself of. 

He fidgeted again in his seat. Saul and Ellen had already been there when he arrived. They had chosen a table in the back of the pub, which was slightly hidden by a bunch of potted plants. He hadn’t told them about Laura coming, too: it had seemed wiser not to mention since he knew by the amount of alcohol they surely had been drinking during noon, all he’d get would be bitchy comments by Ellen and vulgar ones by Saul. Bill turned in his seat, scanning the room through the plants’ leaves. 

“Bees in your bum?” Saul’s grumpy growl made him turn around again. Not looking at his friend, Bill eyed his beer in front of him and muttered: “Waiting for someone.” 

Saul barked: “What?” A couple of people who had been passing them on their way to another table cast him annoyed look. Both men ignored them. 

“I asked the new colleague to join us.” Bill offered as explanation. 

His friend eyed him for a moment. “I see,“ and after a short pause, “must be a nice bloke. What’s his name?”

Still not looking at him, Bill mumbled into his glass: “Laura Roslin”.

He jumped when Saul’s fist hit the table triumphantly. “Ha! I knew there was something off! I’ve known you for a long time old man. You’d never been that restless when waiting for a bloke. Always been a ladies’ man.” He explained with the air of someone saying something very wise and then lifted his own beer to salute the other man. 

Bill stared at him for a second and then raised his own glass in a defeated manner. He had managed to keep the information to himself long enough. With a little luck, Laura would arrive any minute and thus make Saul keep his worst remarks to himself for the time being.   
To Bill’s great dismay a body sidled up on the bench next to his best friend. Ellen had returned. She had disappeared along with her drink after their first round had been served. Now, 10 minutes later she was back, with a different drink and clearly dishevelled hair. 

“Saul, honey, I’ve run out of money,” she slurred and stroked her husband’s chest in an overly affectionate way. On his inside Bill recoiled. He hated the way Ellen treated his friend. But none of that was reflected on his outer appearance. 

“What for?” Saul asked, but was already busy pulling out his wallet. Ellen’s fingers sneaked inside as soon as he had opened it. She merely laughed as a reply and pulled out several pounds. “Oh you know Saul, a girl wants to play,” she then stated and put the money in her bra, providing her husband and anybody who wanted to look a generous view of her cleavage. Bill averted his eyes. Saul gave another amused bark and started nuzzling his wife’s breasts. 

Bill gave a loud cough. The couple pulled apart at his reprimanding look. Saul guilty shrugged his shoulders as if to say “Sorry, can’t control myself around her,” whereas Ellen’s look had something unsettlingly provocative. 

“What’s wrong with you, Bill?” she asked in one of her too friendly tone of voices. Before he could answer, Saul spoke: “He’s waiting for his girl to arrive!” He was obviously thrilled to announce these news.

Bill groaned. Ellen cheered. “You’ve got a date?!”

“No!”, he almost shouted, “It’s not a date and she’s not my girl. I asked Laura, our new colleague,” he explained into her direction, “to join us tonight.” The other two stared at him with big eyes and even bigger smirks. It made him feel like having to add a reasonable explanation, though they probably would prefer sticking to their theory anyway. “She’s new. She hasn’t made a lot of contacts yet.” 

Sure enough, the Tighs looked at each other and then confirmed his statement with just a tad to much irony in their undertones. It was like he had predicted it would be. His best friend and his wife were firing comment after comment at him; vulgar comments. Bill inwardly complimented himself for having been able to keep it from them for a while and silently counted down the minutes he had to stay seated and listen to them before finally getting up without appearing too sulky. He moved over to the bar, Saul’s cat whistles following him. Putting his empty glass down, he gestured to Thomas the barkeeper for a refill. 

When the young man took Bill’s glass and did as his customer had requested, the door to the pub opened and as if on cue, Laura entered. 

Only subconsciously he noted how happy he was that she really had come. Laura spotted him within seconds and made her way to the bar. They greeted each other. It was a short awkward moment, for Bill had had the impulse to hug her and kiss her cheek, as he would’ve done with most of his female friends. He had already leant forward but something in Laura’s eyes told him it wouldn’t be a wise move; not necessarily because they barely knew each other but there had been something else, something he thought he had detected there before on the very first day they had met. It was as if there was an imaginary shield surrounding her to ward off any kind of intruders. He wondered why.

Instead of his usual welcome, Bill leant back against the counter and just told her how good it was to see her. She returned the nicety.

“What are you drinking?”he asked.

“Oh!” Laura took a second to study the list of beverages on the board behind the bar and then scanned the assortment of bottles of different kinds of liquor in the shelf. “I’m not sure...,” she concluded. “How about a cider as a start?” Thomas who had been waiting patiently on his spot behind the counter, listening in on their short exchange, offered as an advice. Laura accepted his suggestion. 

They made a little more small talk and then did what Bill had been dreading ever since he had asked her to come: they went to sit with Ellen and Saul.

~~

“Thanks,” Laura mumbled cheerily as Bill helped her into her coat three hours later.

Their evening had been interesting. She had made acquaintance with the Tighs and a few other locals as well as the patron of the pub, a short sturdy woman named Mrs. Patmore. She and her daughter Daisy had been running the business ever since her husband had deceased. As it turned out, Mrs. Patmore was one of those few persons who was able to make Ellen Tigh shut up with her retorts. During the last hour, Thomas had also sat with them. He was a peculiar young man and there was something untrustworthy about him (perhaps mainly because he and Ellen seemed to be thick with each other), but there was something else about him too.

The Tighs were still in the pub along with a few other people when Laura and Bill left. She had felt tired and after announcing her plan to leave, Bill had at once stated he’d join her. Luckily, they were both quite drunk by then and didn’t notice the looks the others passed each other. But Saul would make sure that Bill knew what they all thought the following day. 

Taking a couple of deep breaths of the cold night air helped Laura to sober up a bit. She took a closer look at Bill and noticed him too trying to clear his head. However, she knew he'd had a lot more to drink than her and sure enough, he still appeared a bit dizzy after his attempt of clearing his head. 

“I’ll walk you home,” he said before she even had the chance to form words.

“Okay,” she answered hesitantly. “Do you live close to my neighbourhood?”

“Naah.” Laura reached out to steady him when it seemed the shaking of his head had brought him off balance. However there was no need, Bill composed himself very quickly and started to walk towards the direction of her flat in a stead that could have fooled anybody. Laura followed in his lead.

“Where do you live then?” she enquired. “Somewhere over there,” he pointed in another direction and then added, “Raleigh Road.”

Laura stopped. He, however, never noticed and instead walked on. “Bill!” Hearing her calling out for him made him turn around. “That’s in the opposite direction... this is ridiculous. Go home, I can walk myself home.” 

For a few seconds he did nothing but stare at her. “I know,” he simply stated and then continued on his way. “But I want to walk you home. And anyway, the walk will do me good,” he explained over his shoulder and chuckled a bit.

She was uncertain whether to be annoyed and feel patronised or not. Watching him striding in front of her towards her flat, she decided that there was no reason to feel either way. He was a grown man with his own will and good company. Actually, she had enjoyed herself so much tonight that she was glad not to have to walk this way alone now. Any minute she could spare her mind of delving into its memories, was a good minute. 

Laura took a couple of larger strides to catch up with Bill. “So, you decided to join me?” he asked once she had reached him. She didn’t reply to his comment, but just smirked in the dark. “You’ve got interesting friends,” she remarked, thinking again about the people she met that night in the pub.

“That’s one way to describe them.” There was clear amusement in Bill’s voice.

They shared a look with each other and then both chuckled at the comment. 

“How did you end up with them?” 

“Saul and I go way back. We were stationed on the same ship when we served in the military.” 

“Ah,” Laura gave a comprehending nod, “I guess these experiences make good beginnings for tight bonds of friendship.” 

“They do.”

“So, you were in the Navy? Have you ever been at war?” 

“Not the Navy, Royal Airforce.” Noticing her irritated expression he added, “Our ship was an aircraft carrier. And yes, we did serve during war. More than one actually … Falkland Islands was the one we served together – last one for both of us, by the way.” 

“I see,” she paused for a moment, “Must be tough.”

“It is what it is.” 

“Hmm.”

For a couple of minutes, their conversation came to a hold. Once again they slipped into a comfortable silence, both lost in their thoughts.

“A soldier… and yet you ended up here as a history teacher.” 

“I figured I needed to do something after my time in the cockpit was over. My mother was a Professor for History at the University of London; always had a passion for the past, guess it rubbed off on me. Much to my father’s dismay, he would have preferred me following his path and become a lawyer.”

Laura gave him an appraising look, “I can’t imagine you fighting battles in court.”

Bill grinned and continued: “Neither can I. That’s why I am where I am today.”

She smiled back at him. “But why Yorkshire?”

“Well,” he gave an over-dramatic sigh, “I have to admit one of my biggest sins to you to explain me moving up here. It was I who introduced Ellen and Saul.” 

Laura placed a hand over her heart, pretending to be shocked by these news. 

“I know,” Bill raised his hand guiltily. “She was a fellow student, we had some courses together and attended the same parties. One night I brought Saul along and then misfortune took its cause. He claims it had been love at first sight.” He laughed at that last comment. “But don’t get me wrong, apart from her Saul is a great person and friend… and even she has her good sides.” 

“I’m sure she does.” Her raised eyebrows indicated the doubt she felt about that. It made Bill grin again. 

“She’s one hell of a mathematician,” he said. They both chuckled again.

“Anyway, Ellen got this job up here. A couple of years ago, she recommended me for a vacancy and that’s how I ended up here as well. London had become rather empty without my friends, I was glad when they called. I still am I guess.” 

His hesitation reminded her of the indications he had made about Richard. She wondered if the other man had anything to do with Bill’s doubts. Then she remembered something else.

“You got your sons here.”

“I do. And their mother as well,” there was bitterness in his voice now, “I contemplated moving back south after the divorce, but I want to be part of their lives as long as possible.”

Laura reached out a hand and touched his arm, “I think that’s good.” Bill looked at her hand and put his on top, without thinking. They both stopped walking, just stared at their hands. “Yeah,” he mumbled, then raised his eyes to look into hers. Suddenly Laura felt awkward and she quickly removed her hand as if singed. Unconsciously she rubbed the back where his had touched her seconds before. 

“You okay?” Bill asked. She looked back at him. Something had just irritated her and it still was. It wasn’t bad, that she knew, but it wasn’t exactly good either.

“Yes, fine,” Laura brushed it off and put on a smile.

The rest of the way they shared some more small talk. Bill noted how she avoided talking about anything concerning her life in California, apart from the occasional classroom story. He didn’t press her and instead answered her questions about his boys. However he couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was something dark surrounding her and it definitely had something to do with her past. 

When he made his way back to his own home he contemplated whether there was a way he could find out more at school. Or maybe he could ask his old comrade Danny for help.

~

It was the beginning of her fourth week at Colonial Academy and Laura was more than happy that she finally felt like she had found her rhythm at work: Come in half an hour early, that way no one would be blocking the printer, use the time the machine needs to fix yourself a large cup of tea. Then proceed to your classroom, pass the English Department’s teaching lounge on your way and pop in your head to let Mr. Carson know you’re there – it’s not required, but he likes to know and it’s always good to be on good terms with your boss – boot up your computer, open the windows, check your mails, get your slides ready and enjoy a couple of quiet minutes before the first class begins.

It wasn’t until after the second period ended that Laura had a chance to sprint to the wash room and get herself a new beverage or make some last minutes copies. They had a 20 minutes break before periods three and four started, and as a teacher you have to learn to use that little time very efficiently if you don’t want to go mad. Wash room, tea and again checking in with Mr. Carson. Usually he didn’t engage you into any long discussions and that way you again got at least 5 minutes to open the windows and relax a little. 

Even if she managed to spend her first break that way, it was always a huge relief to hear the bell’s ringing announce lunch break. One and a half hours of freedom! Well, more or less. The pupils always spent the time outside, after having eaten at the mess. Even when it rained which rather impressed her. The British’ resistance when it came to rain fascinated Laura, hardly surprising, though, for someone who had spent most of her life in California. 

The fourth Monday she spent at the school was one of those days. It was raining and still she saw the kids happily running around the school’s yard, all wearing the same waterproof capes with the school’s coat of arms printed on their backs. It was a funny sight.

Although she liked most of her new colleagues, Laura still avoided spending too much time with them in the big staff lounge. Especially during lunch break. Most of them would gather in there talking about the usual topics discussed among teachers: students, subjects, school politics, sports, weekends and, of course, holidays. It would be easy to just stand there and passively take part in their conversations, but it still made her too uncomfortable. On rare occasions Richard invited her to spend some time with him but they had to realise that they actually didn’t have much to talk about. Sometimes she found Elosha sitting in a corner of the room watching the others. In those cases she usually sat with the woman for at least a couple of minutes and exchanged some words. But most times she escaped as soon as she had finished her meal with the excuse of having some planning to do. She didn’t think that most of her colleagues were bothered because of it; she had to give it to them that they understood when to keep their distance. However, she was also pretty sure that some took notice of her routine. Her boss, Mr. Carson for example; Elosha and Mrs. Hughes; she even suspected Ellen Tigh had been watching her today; and sure enough, the eyes of Bill Adama were always fixed on the back of her head. And yet, she wasn’t ready to make the next step and start socialising again. Not even after her outing last weekend, which had been very nice but also threw her into a depression the following two days.

Stepping away from the window, Laura settled back at her desk and started preparing her lessons for the coming days. The task was soon completed; she had already done half of the planning at home during the weekend. All she had left to do now was head to the school’s library and finally get an overview on what literature it provided the student body with. She was planning to do a little literature project with Year 10. Main focus would be different approaches on literary criticism, for which each of them would have to read at least one novel, poem or play. It wasn’t her intention to force them into choosing one of those from the library, but since she wasn’t a fool either she just wanted to make sure there were enough suitable offers available – after all, not many teenagers were keen on actively choosing and buying a book. From what she expected after having gotten an impression of the pupils in question during the last weeks, at least half of them would simply grab one and read its summary on wikipedia. Still, Laura didn’t allow that prospect to discourage her, even if she were only to manage to inspire one of them, she’d be happy.

Finding the library almost completely empty hardly surprised her. A couple of younger pupils, probably year 6 or 7, sat on several seat pads on the floor and animately discussed something. To her delight, they actually seemed to be talking about books, for several of them lay in their midst, spread wide open. 

“Can I help you?” Laura was caught off guard. She had been too distracted staring at the kids to notice the young woman, very young woman, approach her. 

“Yes. I’m looking for the librarian.” she carefully expressed her quest, feeling a bit irritated and hoping that she wasn’t standing in front of her.

“Oh, we don’t have one. Not anymore, quit last year. A group of us Sixth Graders got the task to organise and supervise the library now.” She paused a moment, then raised a hand as if she intended to wave at somebody: “I’m Tory Foster.”

“I see,” Laura replied, finally understanding, “Just tell me Tory, in what system are the books arranged in here?” 

There was a very confident and competent air around the young woman. She straightened herself up at Laura’s question and gave her answer, almost as if she were reciting it. 

“Well, we chose a system like almost any library. You’ll find all non-fiction books on the left side,” she pointed to a couple of shelves close to the windows, “arranged according to subject and author. These shelves on the right all contain our stock of fiction. Children’s, Young Adults' and also some Adults' fiction. Very simply arranged by age group and, again, author.”

She didn’t smile after her introduction but she did look content. Laura thanked her and confirmed that she would be more than capable to find her way around the room from there. 

“If you want to borrow something, just scan it along with your school ID at that computer,” was all the young woman replied, pointing first at the ID badge dangling from Laura’s blazer pocket and then at a high-tech machine next to the entrance. After that, she turned around and walked away in her ever confident manner.

Laura quickly found what she was looking for; the literature appropriate for her Year 10 age group. One glance was enough to tell her they’d find plenty of the classic and pop literature in the library. Her eyes scanned the rows, searching for her personal favourites, like Dickens or Salinger. It pleased her that they were kind of well represented in the stock, however -

“Are you looking for something in particular?” A very tall boy stood at the end of the row. His face was the pure image of youth; apart from his height everything about his appearance begged to be cuddled. He approached her and it was obvious that he had grown too fast and still felt extremely unsure about his long limbs. But when he spoke, he sounded like a smart young man. “You must be the new teacher of the English Department, right?” He offered her his hand to shake. 

Laura smiled and shook his hand. “Yes, I’m Ms. Roslin. And who are you?”

“Billy Keikeya, House Caprica, Year 9,” he introduced himself proudly.

“Well, I am in fact looking for something in particular, Billy. Maybe someone borrowed it, though. Do you have a register here somewhere where I might check whether it’s listed in the catalogue?”

The boy’s face lit up. Triumphantly he pulled out his smart phone. “You can check that up online.” His fingers had started swishing across the screen, until he suddenly halted and cast her a questioning look. “You have a smart phone, don’t you?” 

“Of course,” Laura reassured him. 

“Perfect. Just install our app; shall I show you?”

“It’s in my classroom, but I’m sure I’ll manage,” she winked at him.

“All right, then just tell me what you’re looking for and I’ll search for it.”

“The title is Searider Falcon.”

She watched his eager fingers typing in the search item and waited, taking the time to study him more closely. It was fascinating how much he reminded her of an over grown toddler and at the same time his eyes emanated such a bright mind. 

“Found it!” Billy exclaimed happily. “Oh no, someone’s borrowed it. Sorry.” He definitely was a very sweet boy.

“That’s fine. I’m glad someone is reading it. It’s a very good book.” Laura couldn’t help herself but pad his shoulder. “Thank you for your help, Billy.” 

“You’re very welcome.” He said while straightening himself up a bit in a proud fashion.

Laura smiled and walked past him, heading back towards her classroom.

 

To her great and secretive dismay she never reached it. When she reached the staircase leading to the second floor a voice called out her name. Turning around she saw Mrs. Hughes, wearing a yellow cape, making her way towards the same stairs, leading two girls on each her sides. They couldn’t have looked more dissimilar – one with creamy white skin and short straight blonde hair, the other with chocolate brown skin and long black curls. However, their expressions were almost identically filled with pure aggression. If they weren’t just girls, Laura might have felt unsettled by it, but as it were, they were teenagers who, from the looks of it, had just spent time rolling around in the dirt and judging from the scratches on their hands and faces, they hadn’t been playing with dolls.

“Ms. Roslin, I’m glad I caught you.” Mrs. Hughes’ voice had a stretch to it, probably not a good sign for either of the others present. “Could you please supervise the school yard for the last couple of minutes in my stead? I need to escort these...ladies to our counsellor.” 

“The old man’ll have your ass!” 

“Oh yeah, playing your favourite card?!”

Both the girls suddenly started shouting at each other. Mrs. Hughes held out her arms to keep them apart before they were able to resume what they had been doing before. Almost simultaneously she and Laura reminded them to better hold their tongues. The effect was almost laughable, at their sharp words and intimidating glances both girls fell instantly quiet and seemed to duck in fright.

Laura gave her colleague, who appeared to be losing her nerves very soon, a sympathetic look. “Of course.”

“Thank you. Here,” Mrs. Hughes removed her wet cape from her shoulders, “take this.”

Laura was grateful at the offer; when she wrapped it around herself she noted that it too had the school’s coat of arms printed onto its back but with black letters in addition beneath it which read Caprica. 

The party continued up the stairs, Laura noticed the blonde girl casting her a curious look over her shoulder before disappearing.

With a sigh that expressed her dislike of her new task, Laura proceeded towards the school yard.

It turned out to be a much easier job than expected. Well, apart from the rain of course. It seemed the news of the new teacher had spread throughout the whole school by now and she soon found herself surrounded by sweet faces of different ages, some of which she knew but also some she didn’t. It was a nice experience and gave Laura the feeling of being in her element. The kids wanted to hear all about California and Americans, and thus she held court. Until a deep rumbling divided the group. 

“Mrs. Hughes?” The pupils made room for Mr. Carson. He must have recognised the cape – since the woman in question was Caprica’s head of house Laura suspected there was only this one yellow cape. Now that she thought about it, she realised the pupils’ capes actually all had the names of their houses printed on their chests in the according colours. Yellow for Caprica, Red for Tauron, purple for Gemenon and blue for Sagittarion. 

“She had to escort two pupils to the counsellor’s office,” Laura gave as an explanation why he was now facing her instead of the other woman.

He was not wearing a cape but instead held a large umbrella in his hand. Being a tall man already he stuck out of a crowd as small as the pupils surrounding them anyway, but his accessory made him appear like a giant. Sure enough, from the corners of her eyes she saw a few of the younger ones crouch in fright. 

“Oh,” he replied, sounding rather disappointed, “I see.” His reaction piqued Laura’s interest, but she didn’t dare say or ask anything with so many listeners. Her intuition told her he wasn’t the kind of person who liked being questioned in front of others… nor did she to be honest.

Before either could say anything, a ringing sound filled the air. “That’s the bell,” Mr. Carson’s deep baritone announced, “off you go.” He turned around and started guiding the kids inside. Laura stared at his back for a second, lost in thoughts.

“He likes her.” A small boy stood next to her, staring up with a wise expression on his face. His blue eyes looked familiar.

Laura raised her eyebrows. Behind him, she noticed, stood several girls, apparently waiting for him. “Don’t need to be an expert to see it, right?” he continued in the same precocious manner. Then he offered her his hand. “I’m Zak Adama.”

She was just quick enough to hide her amusement with a friendly smile. So, that was one of Bill’s boys. Now that she mustered his face more closely she could detect the resemblance, although she guessed he must have a lot from his mother – especially the talkative attitude.

“Nice to meet you Zak.” She gave him the joy of shaking his small hand. 

“Likewise,” he replied and cast her what she guessed was his most charming smile. His flock started to grow impatient. Laura nodded with her head towards the door. “Think you should get moving.”

He nodded and did as she said, but not without throwing a “see you around!” over his shoulder.

Who would’ve thought that Bill Adama’s son was such a little charmer, she mused as she watched him walking away surrounded by his flock of girls.

~

At about 4pm, Laura finally dismissed her last class that day. Sixth Grade, exam preparation. They were all as studious as one expected them to be, but it nevertheless drained her of all the energy she had left in her.

The prospect of enjoying a hot shower and turning in early gave her the strength she needed to tidy up her desk and heave herself out of the room towards the exit. She wanted to stop by the History Department’s staff room on her way to drop off Mrs. Hughes’ cape and therefore took a little detour. The hallways were comfortably empty. Not everybody had school till this late and those who had usually fled as soon as possible.

Laura used her key card to enter her destination. Mrs. Hughes appeared to be the only one left in the department. She looked up at her visitor when she heard the door opening.

“Ah, my cape!” she exclaimed happily upon seeing it in Laura’s hands.

“Thank you for lending it.”

“Not at all. Thank you for stepping in!” 

Laura smiled. “I hope everything went well?”

“Oh yes.” Mrs. Hughes sighed. “They often fight, thick headed kids. Bill’s got them under control though; he’s good with the maladjusted children.” The two of them found themselves in a small conversation about the different problems some pupils brought with them.

“You seem to be well educated on the matter,” Mrs. Hughes assessed at some point, “maybe you should discuss it with Bill, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a partner.”

Laura blamed her tiredness for the blush she felt upon hearing about a partnership with Bill Adama.

“You’ve been out with him and the Tighs?” Mrs. Hughes’ question surprised her a little.

“Yes,” she confirmed, “he invited me to join them and meet some people.” Somehow she had the urge to justify them going out together.

The other woman seemed to have read her. “Nothing ever stays a secret when Ellen Tigh is involved.” 

“I see.” They shared a laugh.

“Tell me, are you settling in well in England?” They continued talking about the life in the town and the people Laura had met at the pub. It turned out that the pub holder was Elsie’s – she kept being reminded to call her by her first name – cousin and the barman, Thomas, her god son.

It felt good to share some time in the company of the other woman, to share minor stories with each other and also learn a bit about Elsie’s Scottish heritage. Social encounters in which Laura felt comfortable had become very rare, but during their talk she had the sudden wish to share more moments like these. Maybe she’d be able to form something remotely like a friendship with the other woman.

“It might be a bit spontaneous, but why don’t you come to my birthday party in two weeks?” Elsie asked. 

Laura couldn’t reply at first. She wanted to accept but something stopped her. It was one thing to attend conferences, where all the talk would be about work, but a private party? Elsie interpreted her silence right and added: “You don’t have to decide straight away. Just know, there’ll be other people you know, like Bill and the Tighs,” she winked when saying the latter's name, “and plenty other of the staff.” 

“All right, I’ll think about it,” Laura replied gladly. 

When she was finally on her way home, she was struggling with why the prospect of Bill being at the same party gave her a feeling of relief? Of course, she knew him better by now; had learned a couple of things about his life and his personality while being out together. There was also no denying she liked him. There could be something annoying, almost like mothering, about him from time to time, that much was true, but spending time with Bill also brightened her spirits. Well, at least she felt a bit lighter … it almost gave her the feeling of having somebody to lean on, to trust … as if she knew, he’d battle with her any storm there might be. The idea of feeling close to somebody again was frightening and it unsettled Laura quite a bit. At the same time, though, she longed to feel more of the emotions Bill had seemed to reawaken in her.

Shaking her head, Laura tried to clear her mind. It wouldn’t do well to dwell on all the possibilities right now. The rain had finally stopped and she enjoyed the sun’s rays tickling her face. It warmed her skin and a more comfortable feeling spread through her body. Somehow at that very moment, Laura was sure she’d find out the meaning of Bill Adama in her life soon enough.


End file.
